THE contaminated blood victims have suffered greatly and everyone should hope that there is now a generous settlement in their favour ("£12m contaminated blood probe branded a whitewash", The Herald, March 26).
However, it seems shocking that an estimated £12 million has been wasted on an inquiry which, after six years , has resulted only in the victims angrily calling it a "whitewash".
In Scotland we can surely learn a lesson from this saga, which is that inquiries are not always the answer, though the legal profession loves to shout for them. From now on, such inquiries should only be granted more sparingly and with extremely tight terms of reference whereby they ought not be allowed to run on for years . The plight of victims should be borne centrally in mind and not huge costs in lawyers' fees which would be better devoted towards part of a fund for victims in such terrible circumstances.
Gus Logan,
2 York Road, North Berwick.
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